My Children’s Names and Five Baby Names I Won’t be Using.

We have successfully named three little ones and I want to share them with you! As well I have included five names I really love but won’t be using. I have seen this tag around Youtube and thought it was cute so I wanted to play along on my blog!

I take baby naming very seriously. I also have a list of criteria that is very limiting:

Must not be on the top 500 list for the last few years (I grew up as Amanda in the 80’s/90’s. I was one of many and hated it).

Must not be able to shorten is easily. I am not a fan if nicknames.

Must be able to pronounce and spell it (reasonably). I have a very complicated last name so I know how hard it is to live with a complicated name…

Avalon – “Island of Apples”. It is said to be the resting place of King Arthur.

When we were pregnant with Avalon I wanted a literary name but my husband wasn’t on baord with most of what I came up with (apparently Lavinia was too tragic…). When I came up with Avalon I drive home that night full of nerves. I really wanted him to love it and thankfully he did!!

Celeste – “Heavenly”

I got this name from a movie and I wish I could say it was an epic blockbuster but it wasn’t. It was a movie called Celeste and Jesse Forever; a very sad romantic comedy. But we loved the name as soon as we heard it and by the end of the movie we knew that was the one.

Soren – “Stern”

Now that we have spent two months with our new little guy we have found him to be a very serious baby so his name suits him well. If this last baby was a boy (which he obviously was!) we wanted an Icelandic or Nordic name for him. Some of the top choices were just a little too out there for us but Soren was perfect.

Five baby names I love but will not be using:

Ophelia – “Help”This name was I had actually planned to use if this last baby was a girl. Since that was probably our last baby I will never get the chance! I love how whimsical and pretty it is. It also goes very well with my other daughters names.

Gunnar – “Warrior”This is a strong and handsome Icelandic name that I love. We just could not get past the fact that it is a common dog name in North America. I wish I had been able to let that go and just use it!

Elliott – “One with God”My first daughter would have been Elliott if she was a boy. In fact, she was almost Elliott as a girl! But she seemed more like an Avalon and I am glad I went with that choice.

Gannon – “Fair-Skinned”Such a fun name!! We both loved this and if our second had been a boy this was a top contender. However, we know someone who has a girl named Cannon so that may have been weird…

Milja – “Hard Working”This is on here because I love it but it was never used because my husband hates it!